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Every imperial physician and attendant from the medical bureau was gathered at Gwanggeon Palace, pouring all their efforts into treating the Emperor. At last, they managed to stop the bleeding, but it was far from over.

“Tonight will be the most critical moment.”

“Didn’t you say the wound from the jade flute wasn’t too serious? You said it had hit a vessel, but that it wasn’t serious. So why is tonight so crucial? Why?”

Bu-yeong shouted at Royal Physician Yeop.

“His Majesty has been poisoned.”

Yeop continued, explaining that someone must have tampered with the food at the banquet, but Bu-yeong realized it was actually the tea she had given him all this time.

“This can’t be…”

Bu-yeong stared down at her bloodstained hands and sank helplessly to the floor.

“Your Majesty, you must stay alert.”

Court Lady Oh informed her that, just in case, Myeong hyeon had already been summoned to Gwanggeon Palace.

‘So that’s why you introduced those children to me. You wanted to decide who should inherit the throne.’

Even if Gok-heon died a year from now, those children would still be too young to rule and would have no choice but to rely on the Empress as regent.

For some reason, Bu-yeong could no longer bear to look at Gok-heon. A storm of emotions she couldn’t begin to describe churned violently in her chest. As if in a trance, Bu-yeong rose from the floor and stepped outside Gwanggeon Palace. The night had grown even darker.

“Will His Majesty ever see the sun again?”

“Your Majesty.”

A voice called out, and Bu-yeong turned her head.

“You’re… So-cheong, aren’t you?”

“I have something to report.”

“What is it?”

“His Majesty strictly ordered me to stay silent. But I can’t do it anymore.”

Bu-yeong frowned. What had she been ordered to keep silent about? Come to think of it, So-cheong had tried to tell her something before, near the mountain lodge.

“The Chancellor Seol did not die from his rotten leg.”

“What?”

Snapped out of her daze, Bu-yeong stepped closer to So-cheong.

“What are you talking about?”

“Chancellor Seol… took his own life.”

Bu-yeong raised her hand and slapped So-cheong across the face with her blood-crusted palm.

“Are you insane? How dare you slander my father? Is your loyalty to your master so deep that you’d stoop to making up such lies?”

So-cheong finally dropped to his knees.

“It’s the truth! On the very day Your Majesty cut your own throat, His Majesty secretly ordered me to bring a doctor from outside the palace to the prison.”

So-cheong explained everything that had happened that day in detail to Bu-yeong.

“Your Majesty, I am innocent of all crimes. Yet I have no way to prove it, and my father’s life hangs by a thread. If this can ease your heart, I beg you—please show my father mercy. I beg you.”

So-cheong, who had been secretly guarding the Emperor, witnessed and heard everything. Never before had he seen his master so lost in despair. He was stunned to see the Emperor holding the Empress and weeping tears in the jade tower.

Once the emergency treatment for the Empress’s neck was finished and the royal physician finally said her life could be saved, the Emperor immediately called for So-cheong.

“Send a doctor to the prison. No one must know about this.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

In the middle of the night, So-cheong woke a skilled physician, tied a cloth over his eyes and carried him on his back into the palace. The doctor had no idea where he was, but he knew he was in a prison and that his patient was Seol Ik-jin.

Unbeknownst to the doctor, the man he was treating was the empress’s father; he only assumed he was someone of high rank.

“If we cut off his leg, there’s a chance he could survive. Here, right at the top of the thigh.”

Seol Ik-jin’s jaw dropped in dismay, and after a long, hesitant pause, he asked,

“If you do that, can I survive?”

“I’ve saved people in worse condition than this through having limbs cut off. Trust me, I expect a generous reward for my efforts, of course.”

“I have something to say in private.”

Seol Ik-jin addressed So-cheong. So-cheong asked the physician to step aside and approached Chancellor Seol.

“Please, speak.”

“Did His Majesty send you?”

“Yes.”

“Why, all of a sudden…?”

“Her Majesty risked her own life to save you. She cut her own throat to plead for your life. Somehow, she survived.”

At those words, Seol Ik-jin was left utterly speechless. His own daughter had risked her life to save him, and yet, the only way he could survive now was to lose his leg.

“May I see His Majesty?”

So-cheong once again covered the physician’s eyes and led him out of the prison, handing him over to So-heuk, who was keeping watch.

“So-cheong, where are you going?”

“I have something urgent to report to His Majesty.”

“Then I’ll take care of bringing the physician back.”

So-cheong went straight to Gwanggeon Palace and relayed Seol Ik-jin’s words to the Emperor. He had expected the Emperor to refuse Seol Ik-jin’s request without hesitation, but unexpectedly, the Emperor went directly to the prison.

However, he allowed no one but So-cheong to follow, entering the cell in secret. The guard had long since fallen asleep after drinking the wine So-cheong had laced with a sleeping draught.

“Your Majesty.”

Even in his illness, Seol Ik-jin dragged his leg with his own hands and knelt.

“What did you want to see me about?”

“Please… allow me to die. Please, grant me that mercy. I do not wish to go on living if it means losing my leg.”

“The Empress nearly lost her life to save her father. Are you aware of that?”

“I am.”

“And yet you would die over the loss of a leg?”

“I… I only wish to see Her Majesty’s mother again.”

Seol Ik-jin spoke with a look of utter resignation.

“I am simply… too tired.”

He no longer pleaded his innocence regarding the Yeon incident, nor did he beg for his life. All he wished for now was death.

In the end, Seol Ik-jin glanced at his decaying, rotting leg and began to weep. No matter how old one is, it’s impossible to remain dignified in the face of such misery.

“They say I could live if I have my leg cut.”

Chancellor Seol shook his head.

“I have no will to go on living. …Please, grant me death.”

This wasn’t the kind of “Please, kill me” that courtiers utter when they’ve done wrong. Seol Ik-jin truly wished for death. When Gok-heon finally gave his consent, Seol Ik-jin made one last request.

“Please, keep this a secret from Her Majesty the Empress for the rest of her life. If she learns I took my own life, she’ll surely try to follow me. Above all, I don’t want her to remember me as a weak father who chose death.”

Gok-heon ordered So-cheong to give Seol Ik-jin a cup of poison. After drinking it, Seol Ik-jin soon passed away. Gok-heon stood for a long while, at a loss for words as he looked at the cooling body of his father-in-law.

“Bury him in a sunny place. Tell everyone else he was laid to rest on a remote hill, without ceremony.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After revealing everything, So-cheong looked up at Bu-yeong. Bu-yeong staggered and braced herself against the wall.

“No… it can’t be! My father would never abandon me like this!”

“But this is the truth.”

“Lies! Even if it’s true, what difference does it make? If His Majesty had sent the physician just a little earlier, my father wouldn’t have lost his leg.’ No! If only he’d believed me from the start, my father would never have ended up in prison.”

“Your Majesty. His Majesty was also deceived by Prince Yeon and the Go family. Even when your jade token was found on top of the wall and witnesses claimed to have seen you there, His Majesty still believed you.”

“He trusted Prince Yeon more than he trusted me. His love for me was always weaker than his loyalty to his brother. That’s why he believed Prince Yeon and—”

“His Majesty truly loves you, Your Majesty.”

“You’re mocking me with lies! Do you think this will make me forgive your master on his dying day?”

Bu-yeong slowly took her hand off the wall. Suddenly, a voice echoed in her ear.

“Y-Your Majesty. Please, I beg you, kill me. If you do, I’ll tell you a hidden truth—one even His Majesty does not know I’m aware of.”

That was what Ok-min had said. Come to think of it, the guard who crippled her father’s leg had acted on Ok-min’s orders.

Bu-yeong headed straight for the stables, with Court Lady Oh and the palace maids hurrying after her.

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Ok-min was dozing in a dark corner when she spotted a lantern drawing closer. Terrified, she sprang to her feet.

“Mmph!”

Was someone here to torment her again? Or was there trouble in the palace—the commotion she’d heard earlier in the evening?

“Go Ok-min.”

The moment she heard the familiar voice, Ok-min scrambled forward on her knees. Court Lady Oh removed the gag from her mouth.

She pleaded over and over for a long while. Bu-yeong gazed at Ok-min in silence before finally speaking.

“The thing you said you would tell me—does it have to do with my father?”

“What? How did you— Y-yes, it does.”

“Tell me.”

Bu-yeong clenched her fists.

Thinking she might finally be freed from her torment, Ok-min brightened and began to talk in a rush.

“On the day Your Majesty cut your own throat, I went to the prison. I went in secret, hiding myself. I was prepared to kill Chancellor Seol if necessary.”

Bu-yeong’s face twisted in anger. Hearing those words, hearing her admit he’d planned to kill her father—how could she not be furious?

“I—I only thought to break the wings of anyone who might become Your Majesty’s support someday. But after His Majesty visited, Chancellor Seol’s body was carried out of the prison.”